Crossed That Line
by J. Maria
Summary: Someone from Dawn's past is noticing something is off with the ex-Watcher. Mainly non-cross, but mentions Whoverse people.  Part 9 of Nine's First Fallen Companion series.


Title: Crossed That Line  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: Joss owns Buffyverse, Davies owns the newest bits of the Whoverse  
Spoilers: Post Chosen, post Combat (slight spoilers for Torchwood series 2 Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.)  
Characters: Kit Holburn, Dawn Summers, Clem, mentions of the Doctor and of Torchwood  
Summary: Someone from Dawn's past is noticing something is off with the ex-Watcher.  
Words: 1,215  
A/N: This is what happens when you write the first five lines and title two months before you actually write the story itself. *headsmack* Allusions to Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

**__**

Crossed That Line

"Dawn Marie Summers, I swear to God, if you do not open your door now, I'm gonna knock it down!"

Dawn pried her exhausted eyes open and looked at the clock on the mantelpiece. She'd only just gotten in from her trip to Glasgow about an hour ago and had only dozed off about twenty minutes ago. Who the hell was shouting at her door? Not Jack - unless he went girly on her. Groaning, she pushed herself up off the sofa and stumbled into the foyer.

She pressed an eye to the peephole and jumped back in shock at the two figures peering back in at her. Her hand fluttered to her throat and she sighed. Her fingers twisted over the locks with more speed than she felt she could manage.

Two slightly aggravated individuals stared back at her. One was wearing a very floppy hat and an extra baggy hoodie. The other was just wearing the hoodie, leggings and a jean miniskirt with combat boots and big sun glasses. And they were two of her closest friends in the world BD. Before the Doctor. Before. . .

"Cardiff? Really?" Kit Holburn glared at her over the top of her shades. "Not Monaco or Belize? Wales? _Really_?"

"How did you find me?" Dawn felt panic creep up the base of her spine. _Nobody_ knew about the rift in Cardiff and her real reason for moving here. Except maybe Jack, but then for him she had other reasons for wanting to be closer to him. "Who else knows I'm here?"

"Chill out, Summers, only me and the Clemster know you're here," Kit sighed, shoving her way into Dawn's flat. "And he's as much a N.I.M.B.Y. at the Council right now as I am."

"Nimby?" Dawn blinked, having had far too little sleep to register that thought process.

"Not In My Back Yard," Clem pouted, pushing past her as well.

"Back Garden. Yards equals gardens here," Dawn muttered.

"Yeah, well, Nimbg sounds a bit too like phlegm and Clem's droopy enough."

Dawn stared at her now crowded foyer and blinked in utter confusion. She sighed and slapped the door closed. Clem had pushed himself past the foyer, and plopped himself down on her loveseat whislt flipping through the TV channels randomly.

"Clem's starving, and I banned his kitty sundaes. So snackins of the chip variety would be much appreciated, Dawnie," Kit winked at her, dipping into Dawn's kitchen.

"Crisps. Chips are French fries here."

"Whatever. I've been in the country for less than two weeks. I've barely got the BBC's sorted out much less the local lingo," Kit leaned against the counter.

"How'd you find me, Kit?"

"Please, the only best friend I've got left suddenly loses her one connection to the man who changed her life and then utterly vanishes off the radar after the death of one of her slayers and I'm not going to come running full tilt after her?" Kit snorted. "You and Clem are all I've got left that kind of resembles a family, Dawn. I lost my mom to the Cybermen too, you know. And Carlos to that drunk driver the year you traveled with the Doctor. You're the only one who really remembers him besides me, Dawn."

Tears glittered down Kit's cheeks at the mention of her mother and her now long-dead fiancé. Kit and Carlos had been together since their first day in the New Sunnydale High, the day they met Dawn and learned that demons and monsters were real. They'd started Watchers training not long after their graduation and had gotten engaged soon after. Kit had called to tell her the news the very same night she'd met the Doctor in the graveyard.

Then one night, about two months after Dawn had started traveling with the Doctor, she'd gotten a call on her cell phone from Willow telling her that Carlos was in the hospital. His car had been t-boned by a drunk driver as he'd been coming home from one of the Slayer summer camps. He'd suffered severe head trauma and had slipped into a coma. By the time Dawn had gotten back to Cleveland, Carlos had already been buried.

"Three years. Today's his anniversary, and I just really needed my best friend to tell me the truth for once," Kit sighed. "Because Dawn Summers doesn't run from friends and family unless there is something _major_ going down."

"Kit, I completely forgot -"

"Save it. You weren't even here when it happened," Kit cut her off. There wasn't any blame or anger in her voice, just a calm and even tone. "I'm not mad. You were there when we - when _I_ buried him. I got through all of the other days fine, but you showed up just when I really needed you to keep me sane. You've got a knack for that, you know?"

"I. . ."

"There's something _off_ about you. You look older, thinner. As if that's even possible. And so much sadder."

"I've just gotten back from Glasgow, Kit. I haven't slept well in two days."

"Did you even eat, cause you look like you could use some snackins? I'll cook."

"I'm just tired, Kit. I'll be better after a nap. Promise. And you never said how you found me."

"I dabbled in the arts of a wiccan-techno-pagan variety. Sort of."

"How? I left no trail. I burned and deleted and trashed any physical record of where I might even go," Dawn frowned at her.

"God bless Wi-Fi and my knack for never deleting e-mails. I found that one that you sent me when you were all bummed out because Ricky -"

"Mickey."

"Whatever, had to run off to Cardiff to meet up with that flower chick," Kit huffed, popping the top off of a can she grabbed blindly from the fridge. Her nose scrunched up in disgust. "Dark beer? Seriously? There were days when it was only girly drinks and wine coolers to be found in the Fridge of Doom."

"You get used to it. What did you do with the e-mail?"

"Fried it. You running off from the Council and your family is something you had to do. Who am I to pull your psychotic sister down on your head for it?" Kit shrugged, setting the can down on the counter. "But Clem and I are staying for a wee bit. Me indefinitely, and Clem until all this crazy Hellboy and BPRD nonsense dies down in New York. I told him, if they're helping keep the bad demons down, I've got no beef with them."

"What?" Had she been _that_ far removed from the monster-hunting biz that she'd missed some big demon revelation in New York?

"Go take and nap and I'll have Clem spill all the juicy gossip when you wake up," Kit smirked at her, placing a friendly kiss on her cheek. "And then you're going to tell my why you ran off, because I know it had to be more than you losing that little slayer and Rose and Mickey and Jackie all at once. Only a matter of life and death could pull you away from the Watchers Council."

Dawn was halfway out of the room before she could connect any of the dots her friend had kindly left her.

"Hey Kit?"

"What?"

"Why aren't you in New York with _your_ slayers?"

"Oh, I've been suspended indefinitely. Apparently I'm bossy and I mouth off a lot. Wonder where I picked that up from?"


End file.
